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An enduring adventure tale which I have read and reread over the years since first picking it up as a teenager. Even though it takes a while for the heroes to reach the realm of the mysterious all powerful Ayesha, it never flags in interest or entertainment. It may be a little antique in its author's views on race relations, but if you can overlook that as a product of the time, the story will sweep you along into a world people by interesting characters who find themselves involved in fantastic happenings. Recommended for young and not-so-young readers. (P.S. The follow-up -- "Ayseha-- which takes place in the Himalayas, is a disappointment so not recommended.)

Excellent period writing for someone interested in how storytelling used to be. Haggard is not easy to follow and uses fifty words when two would do but that is part of the joy of reading She, trying to understand what Haggard is trying to say. English writers like to make India and the Dark Continent as mystical as possible, they once were, today both are simply great colonial mistakes.

Best known for "King Solomon's Mines," which has been filmed multiple times, Henry Rider Haggard was, along with Kipling, one of the foremost English writers of adventure stories that also doubled as advertisements for empire and imperialism. He spent time in South Africa and set most of his stories there and, yes, they are kinda racist. But like a lot of popular fiction, they perhaps give a better insight into the mood and attitude of the time than more serious, literary books. In "She," explorers discover a lost kingdom ruled over by the beautiful and imperious Ayesha, aka She-who-must-be-obeyed. The writing is often florid and clumsy, but it has an undeniable power and students of cultural history will find much in its treatment of race and gender to pore over. Fans of Indiana Jones will also see where that series originated. Great cover. "Revel and lust and drink, blood and cold steel, and the shock of men gathered in battle--these were the canons of their creeds."
PS-I wouldn't call this, contra the other review, sci-fi.